Wow, so only about 30 miles away from Austin there's a pretty sweet place called the Hamilton Pool. After I returned from a superb 2 days [more to come on that] in South Padre, Deanna and I checked this out w/ my day off from the NI grind. There's this collapsed 'grotto' where a river flows down a 45 foot waterfall off the bedrock into this large (and green) pool of water. Usually you can swim in it and let the waterfall massage your back, but the bacteria was too high Monday for swimming. Behind the waterfall there's this large cave cutout of the bedrock where the rocks have collapsed and there's stalagtites and the water spray gives off some 'Natrual a/c'. There's also a mile or so of trails that hike along the river below the pool that runs out to the Pedernales River. Besides the frickin Texas heat, it's a great place to visit on a sunny afternoon! Oh yeah, and remember to bring a hot girl with you, that's essential :)